Having lived in Shenzhen, China for almost 4 years, there are certain brands that I was glad to see land in the states that I’ve experienced in China. That is until I tried the food/drinks and realized they are nothing like the brands overseas. That said, seeing another brand come from Taiwan called Yi Fang, I was not all too excited about it until I began hearing mixed feelings from our other members. This leads me to want to check out out a bit further.
Yi Fang Started as a pineapple fruit farm and now has over 2000 locations. The master franchise owner for Georgia is Sam Kok who brought the first Yi Fang to the Doraville location. Since he has opened this one less then one year he has opened up another location in the Duluth area. Sam is originally from the Fujian province and has been in America for about 40 years. His wife loves bubble tea and after being in the restaurant business for some time, he decided to give this one a try. He loved the appeal of Yi Fang because he believed in a bubble tea that has organic appeal and he also visited the one in NY and California and saw the potential of bringing one to the Georgia area. After his wife tried the teas, she loved it compared to the competitors.
Yi Fang since opening the Doraville area has focused on the fruit tea and a few best selling milk teas using all-natural and organic ingredients. The fact that they are using organic whole milk from Wholefoods breaks them apart from most of the bubble tea shops in the area using powdered milk in their teas. On top of that, the 3 main teas (oolong, green and black) are brewed fresh daily. The syrups used at Yi Fang are also natural being cooked using brown sugar. This process also goes into the brown sugar boba which is cooked in a stew-like manner daily.
With all of the emphasis on natural ingredients, Sam was able to show me every ingredient int he teas I was drinking to prove the level of natural ingredients being used here. If you are used to powdered teas and processed syrups, it may be a different taste to you but the levels of sugar can be adjusted. Since I am sensitive to Sugar, I went with the lowest (30%).
NATURAL FRUIT, NATURAL SWEETENERS – FRUIT TEA
The Yi Fang fruit tea is obviously its signature drink. When your standing in front of the counter, you can see the cups pre-made with the slices of fruit. The tea-based is made from a mixture of pineapple, lime, passion fruit and a few others blended with their house-made syrup made from cooked down brown sugar. The fruit tea has a tart taste due to the lime that is inside most of the teas. I like how the fruit teas com with a long pick so that after you finish your drink, you don’t have to get messy while trying to fish out the fruit from the cup. I also loved it at 30% personally although some people may find it sour due to the citrus fruits used. To me, it was a perfect balance of sweet and sour.
The saying goes, if you love chocolate bars then go with 100% sweetness. There are 5 levels of adjustment if you do not like your choice it can be tweaked.
BROWN SUGAR BLACK TEA LATTE
Another drink that is among the most popular here is the Brown Sugar Latte. This comes in a black tea version if you need a caffeine and/or tea kick. Otherwise, the latte is tea-less and is more of a milk and syrup base. This is great as a dessert drink and for social media pics but I prefer the black tea version for more depth in flavor and the kick of caffeine. The brown sugar boba used in this drink is cooked using brown sugar, natural boba, and no artificial sweeteners or flavors. The boba sweetens the drink enough for me to go with 0% sugar and still love the taste.
OTHER TEA CHOICES
If you are not feeling for the usual Yi Fang Fruit Tea, I would recommend the Aiju Jelly Lemon Green Tea. This tea is a lime base and has a Gatorade like the taste. The Jelly itself is made from Matcha so it has a bitter kick to it. f you are going sugar level less then 50% this drink will be very sour due to the lime used in the main tea and the jelly will add to that with that bitter kick. that said I got this drink in 30% and still really loved it but I enjoy the sourness of it.
For all of your health fanatics who read these posts, I would recommend the Roselle Lemonade if you’re trying to go the healthy route. It reminded me of a Jamaican drink called Sorrow but its made from a plant that is popular in China for its health benefits called Roselle.
The space at Yi Fang is pretty open actually but if you have a large party, there is a conference room that can be reserved. It has a TV, dry erase board and connections for conferences. This is perfect for work-related events as well. Space fits about 8-10 people comfortably and the minimal is just 6 drinks.
Yi Fang Taiwanese Fruit Tea
5705 Buford Hwy NE
Doraville, GA 30340
